For an upcoming beachside burger fest bringing five high-profile visiting chefs and TV personalities to Palm Beach at the Four Seasons, the resort’s executive chef Darryl Moiles has been experimenting with burger combinations and has struck upon what could amount to a crave-attack finalist: a burger topped with, among other things, a “secret” sauce and lobster salad.

The Four Seasons' executive chef, Darryl Moiles, will serve a Creekstone Farms beef burger topped with lobster salad during an upcoming burger bash.

OK, the Burgers by the Beach event in the Dec. 7-11 Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival lineup isn’t a competition, but Moiles’ beef-and-lobster burger should stack up nicely against signature burgers served at the affair by The Food Network’s Robert Irvine, Marc Summers and Jeff Mauro, and Bravo TV “Top Chef” notables Fabio Viviani and Kevin Sbraga.

Moiles, whose preferred sandwiches as kid in Oxford, Mass. did include burgers, but more prominently turkey clubs with fried eggs and a “great” grilled cheese, says, “Two of my all-time favorite sandwiches are the burger and the Northeast lobster roll. Since we’re right on the Atlantic Ocean, I thought this…would be a great opportunity to not only showcase our burger, but also enhance it with a little bit of my roots with flavors from Massachusetts.”

Components of Moiles’ beef-and-lobster burger—it won’t be served until the Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival’s Burgers by the Beach on Dec. 8—include a proprietary sauce, a brioche roll lightly toasted in butter, a well-seaoned griddled burger, bibb lettuce, sea salt-dusted tomato slice, and the resort’s Maine lobster salad with a hint of garlic, lemon and chili flakes.

“…It’s very hard to resist the temptation of all of these ingredients coming together as one,” says Moiles.

Sifting through his sandwich memories, Moiles fondly recalls an Italian grinder that was “one of a kind” at an Oxford pizza place where, many years ago, he and his brother worked.

“They also had a pepperoni grinder that provided the perfect balance with spice, cheese and tomato. At home, it wasn’t unlikely to find us eating cream cheese and olives on toasted bread. I also loved peanut butter and crispy bacon. And, last but not least, I could have a fried bologna sandwich every day and never get bored—and always made with provolone, mustard and onion.”

Chef Darryl Moiles.

As for his beef-and-lobster burger/sandwich? “I think it’s not only simple, but it has the best of both worlds.”

The Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival’s Burgers by the Beach takes place 12:30-3:30 p.m. on Dec. 8 along the Four Seasons’ oceanfront pool terrace. For tickets, $95 a person, visit www.pbfoodwinefest.com. For more information about the Four Seasons, the festival’s official host-hotel, call 582-2800.